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Shetland th th 8 – 15 June 2019 www.western-isles-wildlife.com Summary: Unseasonal cold and windy weather throughout the UK was also a feature of much of the week in Shetland with brighter and calmer conditions on our last couple of days. Luckily, although it was often cloudy we didn’t see the large amounts of rain experienced by much of the country and so we were out every day enjoying the wildlife in the northern isles. After meeting up in Mainland Shetland we made our way straight to Unst where we visited Hermaness which was stunning and full the seabird activity including some close encounters with the local bonxies and thousands of Gannets riding the up-drafts on the cliffs. Our trip to Fetlar provided some excellent views of 3 Red- necked Phalaropes whilst we also got some brilliant views of 2 feeding on a loch in south Mainland at a site not normally frequented by this species. The seabirds were of course superb with good numbers of all the regulars seen as well as lots of Red-throated Divers including some excellent views on a freshwater loch near the dramatic coastline at Eshaness. Almost every day produced migrants which was a nice surprise considering it was mid-June. Scarcities included 1 or 2 Marsh Warblers and a Red-backed Shrike on Unst whilst on Bressay we bumped into an elusive Icterine Warbler at Gorie. Other passage migrants included Cuckoo, Spotted Flycatcher and Lesser Whitethroat amongst others. We also got views of Hobby, Marsh Harrier and a couple of Cranes in south Mainland during the week. A trip to Shetland wouldn’t be complete without seeing otters and during our stay on Unst they were spotted in Baltasound and at Westing whilst Steve also managed to see one briefly at Scatness, Mainland. The dramatic scenery, abundance of seabirds and some nice close surprise encounters with some of the birdlife made this, our first trip to Shetland a delight. Leader: Steve Duffield Participants: John Leslie, Elizabeth Miller, Philip and Alison Hamnar. Daily Dairy: 8th June: Weather: Initially sunny although clouding over during the day with a brisk, cool, north- easterly wind. Phil and Alison arrived on the same ferry as me from Aberdeen so I picked them up in Lerwick before heading south to Sumburgh where we met Liz at the hotel. We had a bit of time before John would arrive off the flight from Glasgow so we took a look around a www.western-isles-wildlife.com few sites in south Mainland. Our first stop was at Spiggie where we found a few Twite on the road verge whilst out on the loch were a couple of Mute Swans and a pair of Whooper Swans with cygnets, resting on the bank. 2 Red-throated Divers were also spotted along with Curlews, Redshanks, Moorhen, Tufted Ducks and lots of Great Skuas and Fulmars. A flock of around 40 Curlew were seen in flight at Brow Marsh before we stopped off to scan nearby Loch of Hillwell. 3 Whooper Swans were present along with Tufted Ducks, Wigeon, Little Grebe, Moorhen and 2 Coots with chicks. Continuing a little further down the road we parked by Quendale Mill and took a walk to the shore. Lots of Shags were feeding on the sea whilst 2 Sanderling and a couple of Ringed Plovers were on the beach. Common Terns were flying up and down the shoreline fishing and periodically up to 4 Arctic Skuas would harry the terns into giving up their last catch although not before putting on some impressive aerial manoeuvers. As we made our way back to the minibus and Hobby put in a brief but close appearance as it shot through the garden at Quendale Mill before heading back over the hills. It showed again, circling in the distance before drifting off out of view. John arrived on time at Sumburgh airport and we made our way to the car park at Sumburgh Head for lunch where masses of seabirds were passing as they flew into the brisk north-easterly wind. We were scheduled to spend our first 3 days in the northern isles so after lunch we made our way to the terminal at Toft for the ferry to Yell. We had a bit of a wait here before the next sailing which allowed us time to enjoy the local bird activity provided by Arctic Terns, Arctic Skuas; a couple of Red-throated Divers and various auks on the sea, close in to the breakwater. The crossing produced more views of seabirds until we arrived on Yell where we headed straight across the island to catch the ferry from Gutcher to Belmont, Unst in the late afternoon. We arrived at the Baltasound Hotel in the early evening and settled in whilst Phil and Alison took a walk to the nearby tidal loch where they spotted our first otter of the trip. 9th June: Weather: Light – moderate northerly wind, cool and cloudy but with brighter spells and a little light drizzle in the late afternoon. Steve spotted an otter on a pre-breakfast walk from the hotel before we all made our way to the Keen of Hamar, a superb botanical site near Baltasound. Early Purple Orchids were still in flower whilst Frog Orchids were just emerging and there was a decent showing of the endemic Edmondston’s Chickweed. A text from a local birder alerted us to a Marsh Warbler that was singing close by at Halligarth so we made our way to this small wooded area. We picked up a singing Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat as well as a Cuckoo before finally hearing the Marsh Warbler singing. It was well hidden and a brief flight view was the best we could do before we headed off to Hermaness. The walk www.western-isles-wildlife.com across the moorland took us through the Bonxie colony with some nice close views of these large seabirds. As we approached the cliffs an intense fight broke out amongst a pair of skuas which didn’t break up until we virtually touched them! A few Puffins were visible on the cliffs whilst thousands of Gannets produced a cacophony of sound as many of them rode the updrafts from the cliffs. It was a superb visit with all the regular seabirds seen and even a Painted Lady showed as we had our lunch in a sheltered hollow by the coast. Edmondston’s Chickweed After leaving Hermaness we headed for Haroldswick where we found 4 Turnstones and 6 Dunlin on the shore line as well as Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Terns and Common Seals off-shore. We continued on to Norwick and wandered over to Valyie where we found a Tree Sparrow and a singing Chiffchaff although best of all was a fine, female Red-backed Shrike which was hunting along the adjacent fields following the fence lines. We returned to the hotel after our full and varied day for an evening meal. After dinner John, Phil, Liz and I headed for a walk down to the nearby tidal loch. As we made our way along the road towards Baltasound an otter was seen running up the side of a small stream that empties into the loch. It disappeared into the distance and was later seen by some other guests from the hotel making its way on a different route back to the shore. www.western-isles-wildlife.com Great Skua, Hermaness www.western-isles-wildlife.com Gannet, Hermaness Fulmar at Hermaness Red-backed Shrike at Norwick(Elizabeth Miller) www.western-isles-wildlife.com 10th June: Weather: A moderate westerly wind with frequent light showers and occasional mist. We made our way to the southern part of Unst this morning to catch the ferry to Fetlar although we stopped off on route to look at a Whimbrel which showed well by the roadside. A little further south we paused once more as a pair of Red-throated Divers was showing well on a freshwater loch near Uyeasound. A further 2 Red-throated Divers and a few Red-breasted Mergansers were also picked up feeding off-shore from the village whilst a final stop before the ferry port at Belmont produced a pair of Goldeneye on Loch of Snarravoe. The ferry journey to Fetlar produced the usual array of seabirds before we arrived on the island and made our way across to the east side at Funzie. On route we picked up a House Martin hawking in the shelter of some small cliffs at the mouth of a stream. 2 Red-throated Divers were showing well on Loch of Funzie whilst Ringed Plover and Dunlin were on the short turf. At least 4 Whimbrel were very active on the nearby moorland with birds regularly calling and others seen mobbing passing Ravens and Bonxies. We spent sometime in the hide overlooking the Mires of Funzie and although we picked up various Snipe, Redshank and Moorhen there was no sign of any phalaropes. Twite and Wheatear were also seen on our walk back to the minibus before we began heading back west hoping that we might find the phalaropes on some other patch of water. We hadn’t travelled far along the road when a couple of small waders were spotted swimming around on a small loch set back from the roadside which meant only one thing – phalaropes! At least 2 birds were seen in the distance so we made our way across the field and sat down close to the loch where we got some excellent views of 3 female Red-necked Phalaropes that were actively feeding.

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